There is something wrong with a system that gives a party with two TDs the guts of €150,000 in completely unvouched expenses.

I wonder will she continue to work for the average industrial wage or will she claim her full wages now too as well as the 41k form the party?
In fairness she has a point the ULA really needs to put together something a bit more credible as a left alternative however small the party might be.

greatest respect for clare but to state it has nothing to do with wallace beggars belief(

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

nice one Gavin

It’s always money at the .

So back it up there one sec , can I getta REWIND! , let me get this right ……

The Socialist Party is a contributor to the United Left Alliance.
Joe Higgins as a Socialist Party TD is signed up,
Clare Daly TD was too under the Socialist Party until 31August 2012.
Also ULA membership extends to Joan Collins Independent TD and Richard Boyd-Barrett Independent TD who have their own Alliance called of the People before Profit Alliance.
Then there’s Seamus Healy Independent TD of the Workers and Unemployed Action Group.

Ok so far 3 Independent TD’s (2 of which are tied together under another sub-Alliance called the People before Profit Alliance) and 2 Party affiliated TD’s from the Socialist Party formed this Alliance (ULA). So 3 + 2 = 5 altogether.

Now apart from all of that, we have a Technical Group set up to allow speaking time blocks (and other advantages) to be granted to members of the Technical Group.
The Technical Group consists of the 5 TD’s as mentioned above, but also 11 other Independent TD’s of a variety of political stances such as Finian McGrath, Shane Ross, Catherine Murphy, Ming Luke Flanagan, Thomas Pringle, Tom Fleming, Mattie McGrath, Maureen O’Sullivan, Stephen Donnelly and John Halligan.

So 5 + 10 = 15 in the Technical Group.

Mick Wallace used to be part of the Technical Group but because he made a boo boo he’s not allowed play. But Clare Daly has a personal relationship with Mick Wallace. The Technical Group who made a statement distancing themselves from Wallace also includes the Social Party and therefore Clare Daly.
So Clare Daly had to politically distance herself for political reasons from Wallace to meet the requirements of the distancing by her Party and the Technical Group of him.
But……… The ULA who are also part of the Technical Group have also distanced themselves from Wallace.
Socialist Party issue a press statement saying Clare Daly resigns, mentioning the Wallace connection as a major issue for the decision.
Clare Daly is now an Independent TD but is still part of the ULA and therefore still part of the Technical Group.
She issues a rebuttal statement to the Wallace insinuation by the Socialist Party which is just Joe Higgins now, and says her motive is to leave the ULA,was to go and join the ULA.???

So she was part of the 2 votes for the Socialist Party on issues within the ULA and the Technical Group where there was a mutual benefit for herself and Joe Higgins if they voted together on the same issues
.
So poor Aul Joe is own his own again, the last remaining bastion of Socialism in the Dail. Clare leaves the party she worked for for over 25 years to rejoin an Alliance she just left as a Socialist Party member but rejoins as an Independent TD.
This ULA Alliance is only in existence since April 2012 and according to wikipedia “The United Left Alliance name did not appear on ballot papers for the 2011 general election, and candidates were listed under their individual parties or as non-party”, but Clare Daly is driven to say that she wants to join the ULA to be more effective. Rather than stay with her old party to make that more effective she is jumping into the short-established and possibly short lived/needed United Left Alliance. So she has distanced herself from the Socialist Party.

She has been disappointed with the ULA progress so far, which is a bit of a criticism of her colleagues in the ULA as she goes forward with one vote in it going into the future.

I’m glad we have such a credible,strong, principled opposition alternative in this country, pity it’s so damn hard to keep up with them.At least we know what we voted for and how they all individually stand as one, on the issues we care about most.
Viva la Revolucion!!

So Clare Daly leaves the Socialist Party under very bitter circumstances and joins the ULA but the Socialist Party are also a part of the ULA so they’ll have to work with her anyway, do we really expect stability if we put these people into power?

ha ha ha who is she trying to cod !!!

Ha…is that his earring Clare?

Any one else thinking of that painting – the scream – after looking at the photograph?

It was described today on radio as “like two 14 years sitting at the back of mass, holding hands, at a summer Gealteacht” …. Brilliant !

Seriously, who cares that Clare what’s her name left a party who has as much influence on the direction of the country as the dog on the street that I drove past on my way to work has? I care even less as to why she left or whatever useless, pointless group she joins. It will make as much difference to us as the weather in Namibia.
What I do care about is who voted for these clowns. We voted for a woman who drove her car down the steps at the Dail because she was too busy smiling for the press. We are voting for idiots and fools and then expecting them to lead us and bring the country out of the situation it’s in. It’s not their fault they aren’t doing it. They never had the capability to do it in the first place. It’s our fault for voting these fools in in the first place. Can anyone seriously tell me that they expected Clare whatshername or Luke “Ming” (grow up) Flanagan or Mick Wallace to do anything about the worst crisis we have ever seen?
Ok rant over. Sorry.

Listen the s/p combined with all ULA members inc continuity ULA members will never pass 5% they just havnt the cop on ……. Off the wall clap trap , most people think s/f are extreme on socialist stuff and these guys reckon s/f are capitalist ….. You can spot s/p and ULA a mile away they ware the same uniform ” the pyjama “

Thank god the socialist party has lost a member , even if she is leaving for the equally ignorant ULA

Sorry Iain, I did say it was more of a rant than a logical thought out argument. My point was twofold. 1, that Clare Daly has very little relevance or import in my life. I don’t think she can influence the country much so I was trying to say that it is largely irrelevant that she has left one party to possibly join another. My second point was that we need a higher calibre of leader than the politicians that we currently have elected and u was using the example of the lady driving her car down the steps while being star struck by her own importance. I never made reference to her political party so I’m unsure why you felt the need to take me to task on that but anyway.
My apologies that my point was not clear enough for you. I’ll try to do better next time.

He must be hard up

I just don’t think she’s all that smart or tactically aware. She’s never bowled me over with her intelligent interviews and she has to realise that her actions will only damage the ULA. The only credible members are Shane Ross and Stephen Donnelly.

More political farce. This must be an ad to attract chancers to try to get elected.

Seems like independents are a bad idea, they get lots of money when elected and everyone knows that cannot much. Where is the justice in that?

Mick has his finger in a lot of pies

For people on government to declare themselves socialist, Labour, Fianna Fail, independant etc is nonsense. They are simply politicians. As politicians they are all greedy, self seeking, ambitious, and ruthless. The money and the power is their main addiction and like other addicts somebody pays dearly. That’s us the people.

Can the ULA progress arising from this situation? I have a blog on this which I hope you like. I am a former member of the Socialist Party and preceding Militant organisation from 1991-2009. http://www.garrettmullan.com

A socialist and a capitalist sitting under a tree !

Looking forward to a ” broad left ” to take on this state and it’s allies.